Army: No immediate plans for expansion

Officials announced Tuesday that the U.S. Army has no plans, no funding and no congressional authority to expand its footprint at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

Comment

By LJTD Staff

LA Junta Tribune - La Junta, CO

By LJTD Staff

Posted Aug. 14, 2013 at 1:00 PM

By LJTD Staff
Posted Aug. 14, 2013 at 1:00 PM

Officials announced Tuesday that the U.S. Army has no plans, no funding and no congressional authority to expand its footprint at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

Considered a victory for southern Colorado ranchers who have fought against the proposed expansion, Assistant Secretary of the Army Katherine Hammack said that the Army will be taking steps to evaluate Fort Carson's training requirements — a necessary step to withdrawing the land-acquisition waiver that has been a source of serious concern to ranchers for years.

The announcement came after a meeting in Pueblo Tuesday between U.S. Senator Mark Udall, who serves on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee; Hammack and southern Colorado leaders, including Otero County Commissioners Kevin Karney and Jim Baldwin and three members of the Las Animas County Commission.

Many ranchers, farmers, communities, including La Junta and Otero County, fought against the Army's proposed expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site because of the economical impact to the areas in southern Colorado. The proposed expansion had included moving onto about 235,000 acres of ranching land.

"Southern Colorado ranchers and residents have long worried that the Army could expand its footprint at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site and displace them from their land. In my role on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I worked with Assistant Secretary Hammack to make it clear that expansion is not on the table in an effort to allow our ranchers and our soldiers to focus on their livelihoods," Udall said. "These assurances and the Army's steps toward withdrawing its land-acquisition waiver show how the military is serious about addressing local concerns while protecting its ability to train within the current boundaries. Pinon Canyon is vitally important to Colorado's ranchers, soldiers and economy, and I believe that today's meeting laid out a solution that benefits all sides."

Under the plan laid out Tuesday, the U.S. Army has agreed to re-evaluate the training acreage requirement for the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site and work toward withdrawing its land-acquisition waiver in light of recent personnel reductions at Fort Carson.

Udall has been a strong advocate for soldiers and residents of southern Colorado and has fought to secure assurances from the Army that it will not expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. Udall also is supporting an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that makes it clear the U.S. Army cannot expand the site without specific approval by Congress and a thorough environmental study.